Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle stands in front of the six finalist designs for the next official flag of Cook County. [Twitter/Commissioner Scott Britton]

Cook County leaders took a step on Thursday toward closing a years-long process to give the county its first new flag in more than half a century. It was one of dozens of actions taken by the county’s Board of Commissioners during its monthly meeting, including the approval of a controversial new contract for debt collection and authorization of tens of millions of dollars in additional American Rescue Plan Act-backed relief money.